


a continuing misrepresentation

by lutzaussi



Series: markers and idiots [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Hatake Kakashi is an Idiot, M/M, and so is Uzumaki Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 03:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10733205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lutzaussi/pseuds/lutzaussi
Summary: Hatake Kakashi has never considered killing an innocent child, but one Uzumaki Naruto is really beginning to try his decades of cultivated patience.





	a continuing misrepresentation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Unseelieknight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unseelieknight/gifts).



_ Who are you? _

Kakashi stares at the messy handwriting on his right arm for a good five minutes before his brain decides to work and he recognizes the hand as none other than that of his most unruly student. He watches as more words scribble themselves out, inquiries of his age and his name and other personal details with absolute bewilderment. It’s seven in the morning, what the hell is Naruto doing at Iruka’s? He knows that Iruka sees the runt as something like a little brother, but seven in the morning, in his opinion, is still way too early for anyone to be dealing with Uzumaki Naruto.

So Kakashi ignores the scribbles in favor of finally getting up out of bed. Normally he would be up hours before, but a late night of domestic bliss with Iruka before having to return to his lonely apartment is all the justification he needs to wake up late and, therefore, be later to train his brats. Kakashi is again reminded of Naruto at that point, because though they have talked about moving in together, none of the children--hell, nobody at all knows. Anko or Gai might suspect, but he’s not having that conversation with either of them. Iruka can do that.

-

Iruka is just getting his bag together to head over to the Academy when Kakashi crawls into his living room window. He knows that Kakashi is there, and Kakashi knows that Iruka knows, but that doesn’t stop him from utilizing the majority of his finely-honed stealth skills to sneak over to him and catch him in a hug.

“Did Naruto steal your markers?” Kakashi asks, letting his sleeves fall down so the still-present questions are visible.

“Oh,” Iruka winces, “I forgot to wash them off.”

He worms his way out of Kakashi’s arms and heads to the kitchen. There’s only ink on his forearms, which is relatively quick to clean off, and when he’s drying his arms off Kakashi focuses him with a laser-like stare. “Why?”

“Sorry,” Iruka says, obviously trying not to laugh, “Naruto, um. Has decided he needs to figure out who you are?”

Kakashi wrinkles his nose and stares at Iruka, who seems to be having difficulties in continuing to not laugh as he gets his bag again.

“Well, good luck to him,” Kakashi mutters darkly. Iruka stops trying not to make noise and gives in to full-on stomach-holding laughter.

-

Mission Prevent-Naruto-From-Learning-Anything is surprisingly easy, even if Kakashi needs to work on the title. His aversion to children and his initial introduction to the kids had pretty effectively prevented them from learning anything substantial about him, and short of asking Gai they won’t learn anything about him, so he feels relatively safe completely fucking with Naruto. 

Any truths given out are at most half-truths, if that. Kakashi doesn’t flat out lie, but. Well, maybe by omission, but Iruka doesn’t particularly seem to care about those. So, Kakashi doesn’t stop, doesn’t bother to keep his story straight, and frankly delights in the confusion he causes. If his childhood had been a little different, he considers, he would’ve been a prankster akin to Iruka and Naruto. He’s very good at it.

Which, he delights, infuriates Naruto. The boy is no longer content to leave Iruka’s love life in Iruka’s hands, and he is constantly complaining about it when they are on missions, training, meeting up for dinner, and really whenever he sees his teammates. It’s annoying but Kakashi also finds himself basking in how thoroughly pissed off the small blond has become.

-

Team Seven has a semi-regular dinner date with Iruka, because Iruka is nothing if not sentimental and the kids are nothing if not down for free food. About a week after Naruto first began his very misguided effort to figure out who Iruka’s soulmate is, one such dinner date is due. Well, overdue, but they were busy with a mission the day before.

Kakashi isn’t sure if he’s going to go; Iruka doesn’t mind if he doesn’t show because they can always find each other later, and also Naruto has been very insistent on this particular day and Kakashi is sort of sick of the kid’s face. And handwriting.

After yet another round of invasive questions with vague, mysterious answers,  _ I have something I need to be doing _ , Kakashi finally writes on his forearm. His team is supposed to be over to Ichiraku’s by seven, and it’s already six-thirty and though he doesn’t necessarily want to be on time, something about the entire day feels very sinister. Naruto is by no means a genius, but the thought he might be onto Kakashi is a little terrifying.

-

Kakashi goes. He finds Sasuke and Sakura waiting and their mouths drop open in identical amazement at his early appearance. He just ruffles their hair at the same time, ducks under the banner and sits.

Naruto likewise expresses surprise and amazement (and, of course, being Naruto, suspicion), but Iruka just smirks a little at him when he arrives. Not a normal sort of smirk, either, the sort that means trouble. Kakashi normally likes that look, but in that moment it’s downright ominous and not helping his earlier feeling of impending doom.

-

Naruto keeps glancing around even as he eats his ramen, eyes narrowed as he takes in everyone in the booth. It is the five of them, another shinobi who looks exhausted and is half-heartedly picking at his bowl, and a young woman who is furiously writing on a thick pad of paper in between bowls of ramen.

He continues to do so through bowls two and three and finally Sasuke comments on it, which just makes matters worse.

“Oi, idiot, stop being all distracted, Iruka-sensei was talking to us.”

Naruto snaps his chopsticks together and splatters broth on Sasuke’s face before proclaiming, “Shut up, you duck-haired asshole, Iruka-sensei’s soulmate is going to be here and I need to know who they are!”

Kakashi chokes. Iruka chokes. Sasuke goes for the jugular after choking and Sakura has her head pressed to the countertop trying to stifle her giggles. Naruto goes on the offense, and Kakashi finally wades in to separate them.

Once the boys are back under control and Kakashi has resumed his seat, he shoots a glance at Iruka. His lips are pressed together, and Kakashi knows that expression well enough to know that he is trying very, very hard not to laugh or yell. Kakashi doesn’t know which. Kakashi doesn’t know which he’d  _ prefer _ .

All that he knows is he needs to escape as soon as possible.

-

He doesn’t see Iruka for a few days after what he has dubbed “The Ichiraku Incident” which is a little disappointing, but also really okay because Naruto has leapt to new levels of annoying. Though he has stopped asking invasive questions via Iruka’s arms, the only boon. In fact, the first day after that they see each other is the same day of the announcement of the Chuunin Exams.

They’re on his couch after the announcement and the nominations, Iruka working through a stack of papers, Kakashi wishing he was better with his fucking words. They’d ended up there after Iruka had stammered out an apology and Kakashi had offered dinner.

“Huh, maybe this way Naruto will be so focused on the exams that he’ll finally leave me alone,” Kakashi mutters, to himself.

Iruka fully turns around at that and gives him the patented Teacher Look. Kakashi feels bad, but only a little. It’s damn true. He’s getting tired of the little punk. “Iruka,” he says after a few moments. “Even if they aren’t ready, it’ll be a good chance for them to grow. They can only learn so much from the D-Rank missions and after the Land of Waves I doubt I would be able to talk the Hokage into giving us anything better. And I left the choice up to them.”

“Mm,” Iruka leans back against him, sighs, “I know. I guess I just--it’s only been a couple months, and I know that they all have to have grown, not just your team.”

“Maa,” Kakashi nuzzles Iruka’s head, presses a kiss at his hairline. “You’re worried, and that’s normal.”

-

“How did you get him to stop?” Kakashi asks once they are in bed, one of his hands hitching up Iruka’s shirt.

“I told him if he continued I wouldn’t make him breakfast ever again,” Iruka says, something like a smile curling his lips, “and also that it was an invasion of my privacy and yours. Well, my ‘soulmate’s’. The first point got it across, though.”

-

Following the first two parts of the exam, Kakashi is stuck with one very sour Sasuke and a month away from Iruka. Considering that two of his students have stuck around to the arena fights, Kakashi guesses he should be proud. Mostly, though, he’s pissed off and tired. Dealing with Orochimaru (Orochimaru!!) is all well and dandy, great for dredging up some memories he would’ve rather forgotten, but whatever!

Iruka writes him little messages every morning and occasionally when they’ve stopped training earlier in the day Kakashi has time to write back.

He nearly forgets the date of the final exam, though Sasuke thankfully has not. Once they’ve packed up their gear and squeaked into the arena just in time, Kakashi gets his marker out to tell Iruka so.

And then the entire day goes to hell.

-

After-- _ after _ , Kakashi is busy. Ridiculously busy. Shikaku might be the Jounin Commander, but everyone knows Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan on sight so he ends up being unofficially in charge of most of the shinobi in Konohagakure.

He’s so damn busy that by the time the funerals are scheduled and held, he’s nearly fucking numb with exhaustion and grief. And he hasn’t seen Iruka in more than passing in days, so when Iruka follows him home after the funerals he is the first on the list of those not complaining.

“Naruto knows,” Iruka says as soon as they’re inside, in lieu of an actual greeting or maybe some good news.

“Why?” Kakashi says, the word coming out a little terrified and a little like he’s already accepted his fate.

“I visited him in the hospital before they released him and he saw these,” Iruka tugs his left sleeve up and Kakashi can see the little henohenomoheji littering his arm between the hearts that Iruka himself had drawn. Whenever he got the chance since the finals he drew them, if only to show Iruka that he was still thinking of him.

“Fuck.” The word comes out a little distant.

“I choked, I’m sorry.” He doesn’t exactly sound sorry, what with the wheezing and the laughter, but Kakashi is so far gone with fondness for the crinkles at the corners of Iruka’s eyes that he doesn’t mind. “So I told him.”

“What did he say?” Kakashi finally asks, after basking in Iruka’s smiling face for a few moments.

“He thought I was lying,” Iruka says, “then he told me to prove it.”

Kakashi raises an eyebrow at that.

“I told him I didn’t need proof, and he’d lost any right to try and question you on this after that dinner.” Iruka’s smile gentles a little as Kakashi drags him to the couch.

“How long do you have?” Kakashi asks after a few minutes of long-awaited cuddling, the subject of Naruto pushed to the back of his mind. He’s going to enjoy the time he finally has with Iruka, damn it, not think about the boy who is his personal pain in the ass.

Iruka shrugs from his position on top of Kakashi. “Shikaku told me to leave and not come back before Monday, but who knows if they’ll have an emergency. What about you?”

“One day, too many missions needing to be taken,” Kakashi says, nuzzling his face right into Iruka’s neck and sighing there. “Can we just--forget about all that, for now?”

“Yeah, I’d be fine with that,” Iruka whispers.

-

Kakashi sees Naruto almost immediately upon waking from Itachi’s Tsukuyomi and if he could’ve managed a laugh he would have. The boy looks so torn between relief and annoyance, and after Tsunade has left with Gai he shoves a marker into Kakashi’s hand.

“Iruka-sensei’s busy but he wanted to know when you woke up,” Naruto says, sounding torn as well, but he doesn’t linger, runs after the others.

Kakashi knows he should sleep--Tsunade told him as much--but at some point Iruka did become more important than that, so he slowly uncaps the marker, finds a spot on his arm bare of hearts and henohenomoheji, writes  _ I’m alive _ , and slowly encases the words in a heart.


End file.
